Possible Special Education Cuts On the Minds of Educators (WV)

February 17, 2011

Several educators appealed to the Mineral County Board of Education Tuesday evening to keep the county’s special education team intact for the sake of the children.

It was the county’s director of psychological services, however, that brought the point home in an emotional and direct message in which he said the county’s special education program has never been able to recover from the loss of one staff position in 2006.

Although no recommendations have yet been made — nor will any recommendations be made until the board’s Feb. 22 meeting — rumors of the loss of two spec ial education aids next year have spread throughout the county for the past several weeks.

At the board’s Jan. 31 meeting, member Craig Rotruck voiced his concern over the issue and the fact that he had asked to meet with several of the involved parties but that meeting was never arranged.

Tuesday, Tom Denne, director of psychological services who also at one time served as head of the county’s special education program, spoke about how Mineral County’s program was once top-notch, but he feels that is no longer the case.

Praising the late Sally Wilson for starting special education in Mineral County with the establishment of the Clary Street Learning Center, Denne called Mineral County “a beacon of hope” for special needs children at that time.

“I came here because Mineral County was the best,” he said. “I knew the needs of these children were going to be met in Mineral County.”

The county’s reputation, according to Denne, did not last, even with the best efforts of Wilson’s successor, Bob Miller.

“We closed down Clary Street. And I’m still angry that we closed down Clary Street,” Denne said, slapping his hand down on the podium and describing the special education atmosphere in the county at that time as “colder.”

“The state had tried for 15 years to close Clary Street and Bob Miller said, ‘It isn’t in the best interest of the kids,’” he said.
New state regulations called for special needs children to be mainstreamed into the classrooms, however, creating a situation which Denne called “a whole lot of expensive.

“Part of the reason we are where we are right now … is that (mainstreaming) takes a whole lot of staff,” he said.

Denne also recalled 2005, when Keyser Primary-Middle School did not make AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) in the No Child Left Behind initiative, because standards were not met in the area of special education.

“But we mobilized forces … and you know what? We made AYP in 2006,” Denne said.
“And do you know what the board of education did? The board of education said, ‘Do it again … but do it with one less special education teacher.

“We have never recovered,” he told the board members.

Denne also told the board he doesn’t feel the county “has a prayer” of reaching AYP at Keyser Primary-Middle School, Keyser High School, or Frankfort Middle School if the current special education staffing is cut.

He implored the board to “look any place you can” to cut back so they can keep the county’s special education  program intact.